Makeup Artist & Photographer

Well well well, isn't she a happy girl! Olivia loves horse riding, and there are only so many horses and sessions to go around - and lots of deserving people who would like to have a turn. Olivia has waited for a year since her last lot of RDA sessions, she has been super excited to get back into the saddle, which happened again just a couple of weeks ago.

Pippa and her team of volunteers make sure that Olivia and all of the other participants have a safe and fun riding session. Its so wonderful that there are organisations out there offering these wonderful experiences to people, its such a pleasure to watch the joy on their faces and the smiles as they get to connect with the horses. Thanks horsey Patsy for being such a patient ride for Olivia!

I decided to take my camera along and get some shots for the families of those riding, if you would like Print sized files, please flick me a message. I also do family photography - and Photo Therapy For the Soul - where I offer a limited number of Gifted (free) and reduced shoots to families who have someone going through a terminal illness or debilitating disease - feel free to contact me about that also.

In September I had the pleasure of doing a makeover and photographing Angela Mole, I know Angie personally from Curves gym in Merivale, where we have both been members for a number of years.

Angie and I got chatting, as you do when you are doing a circuit workout about how she needed new portrait images of herself for the Canterbury Artists Magazine, so...we set a date and decided to get to it!! A few weeks later off I toddled over to Angies house, with my makeup kit, my camera, and my big carry case of lights to have a play with Angies painting brushes, and her large selection of gorgeous scarves!!

I was fascinated with Angies work book, it was so interesting to see how her ideas start out, and where they end up, the thought process involved, the sketches, and how her paintings change over time, here is some info on this very inspiring artist and details about her work.

Angies current work reflects a fascination with time, movement and change - how these factors impact on people and the environment. She has completed a series of 10 conceptual coastscapes and 'The 8 Ages of Woman celebrating the positive"Focus on the beauty which remains in abundance in this world - then you will know peace."

This is Angela's brief as an artist. Being Christchurch born and Christchurch - based since 2009, it has fuelled her passion and kept her sane throughout shaky times.

Angela works mainly in acrylics and watercolours in a smooth, sleek semi-abstract style incorporating subtle collage elements - handmade Japanese papers a favourite. She is strongly influenced by Japanese minimalism and the Art Nouveau movement,and closer to home enjoys the work of contemporary NZ artists Dalene Meiring, Shona Moller and Gretchen Albrecht.

Aspects of our life stages; Patrick Hanley's 1970's '7 Ages of Man inspired her to attempt a women's perspective 40 years later. In 2013 the Time theme continues but she is experimenting with innovative formats - new application of collage, 3D paintings and non rectangular canvasses.

Angela's earlier work grew from friendships with young Japanese while ESOL teaching in Mid Canterbury. She developed an appreciation of Oriental culture and empathy with these students trying to grasp ours - and found satisfaction incorporating Japanese techniques and materials in her work. Angie's women convey a deep sense of peace - perhaps they are angels?

Angela has been painting and exhibiting in Canterbury for over a decade and completed a Diploma in Painting in 2011.

So tomorrow is Fathers Day - to the dads out there, the ones who are biological fathers, step fathers, foster fathers, uncles, or grandfathers - stepping in and wearing the dad hat - tomorrow is a day of celebration - yes - you got through another year parenting and being dad - it doesn't matter how old your 'child is' you are always the dad - the parent, the role model, the man that is looked up to and tomorrow is about celebrating you!!

For some - it might be their first time - celebrating as a new dad, others might be looking forward to family traditions that they have created, breakfast in bed, opening hand made cards, and gifts like power tools! Some will be looking forward to a day out with the family, and perhaps have reservations booked, so there is no cooking and cleaning up for mum and dad, it can be a happy day right!

For others, tomorrow is hard, a reminder of what they might not have, their dad may live far away, they might not have alot of contact, some people don't know their dad, and some have lost their dad - so for me, this post is about that. My husband lost his dad - Taki - to Cancer, this will be his second fathers day, without hearing his dads voice, his laughter, without hearing I Love You Son - and this year won't be any easier for him than last year, the build up to fathers day is not any easier. Last year - we started our own tradition, every year, on fathers day, we do a Phototherapy for the Soul Session - last year, was raw, and emotional but we did it, and Tiki felt better for it - so I want to offer that session to other people, who don't have their dads, I see it as a way to put aside the time to really think about your dad, the good things about them, and to celebrate that, I know Tiki will be thinking of his dads love for Vailima tomorrow, his passion for UB40 - and we will celebrate that.

What happens is we have a session where Tiki holds a photo of his dad, any photo he likes, and he spends time - reflecting on their relationship - he says a few words about how he is feeling, and I write them down, things he might like to say to his dad - I photograph him - and photoshop the words on later - eventually over the years, we will see Tiki growing older like his dad (I think he looks the most like him too) so they will still get to grow old in photos together, and his thoughts and feelings will be shared every year. I think that photos offer us so much, and that tomorrow - we want to celebrate the life and relationship that was, think of all of the amazing times - and still honour men - and fathers in their absence, because we can.

I am looking at renting a space tomorrow, so I can offer this to other people, who can't catch up with their dad for whatever reason tomorrow - if you would like to have a photo done, bring down your favourite photo of your dad, your favourite story of your 'ole man' came and share with us.

Danielle - I would like to thank you - and your family - for asking me to photograph you and your dad Rodney - if it wasn't for the shoot with your dad - we would never have realised how sick Taki was, we wouldn't have rushed to him in Samoa, while he was telling us to stay and that he would be okay, and we wouldn't have had the time with him that we did - from the bottom of our hearts - we will always be grateful to have had the time with your family also, we can never thank you enough.

As I would like to do this to help people heal I am greatly reducing the cost of this session but I do need to cover my costs including the rental of the space at a minimum of $25 per session - each session will need to be booked in I will be available from 2pm - 6.30 tomorrow, flick me a message if you would like more information or to book in.

selinanunn@gmail.com

You are my hero

William Rodney Spackman

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Oh it has been a long time coming the new website of mine, I am so over the moon that I have finally got it to a state where I can share it! Of course, it will be ever evolving, with uploading of the work I am so fortunate to be part of - Your Lives!!

Last week I had the pleasure of working alongside Nspyre Red Hair Design for a hairdressing seminar, gosh those ladies are talented, the colours and styles coming out of there were nothing short of brilliant! It was pretty busy for me doing 7 makeovers in 3 hours, and taking pics as I went - but I managed to grab a few quick shots that I wanted to share with you all.

I have been working in with Ronda Siaki Shaskey for many years, right back from the early days when she was working in at East Gate Mall - it has been my absolute pleasure to see Ronda's business develop and grow to where she is now, having a gorgeous boutique salon in High Street Christchurch and having a great team working for and alongside her. I absolutely love getting together on projects and coming up collaborative work with other artists, and will continue to blog about this - if you are in the industry and are interested in a collaboration, don't hesitate in contacting me.